Archive for the ‘Cricket’ Category

A Golden Age – From The Durban Lambs to the Perth Lions

Monday, January 23rd, 2012

Indian cricket fans all over the world at heart broken. England was thought to be an anomaly but Australia showed that the Indian team was very poor and it could not be blamed to injuries or the like any longer.

However, instead of mourning, we should celebrate what has been a golden age for Indian cricket. The thing about golden ages is that you do not realize you are in the midst of one while you are in it. More often that not, only with the benefit of hindsight do you realize how lucky you have been to experience such an era of greatness.

Between 1932 and 2000, India played 157 matches away from home winning only 14. From 2001, India has played 72 games winning 23. The last decade or so has included series win in England, West Indies and more than 12 months when the team were the number 1 team in test cricket despite stiff competition from the likes of South Africa.

Between April 2007 and March 2011, India won 7 tests abroad and lost just 4. For a team which couldn’t bat even if their lives depended upon it (remember Durban where India was bowled out for 100?), it was a giant leap. If I was told in 1996 that India could win another of the world’s fastest pitches, at Perth in 12 years time, you would have forgiven me to think the person was not sane.

You might blame T20 but batting techniques all over the world have declined because of T20. That is not it. One has to realize that Indian pitches are very different to the ones outside the subcontinent. The extra bounce, pace compared to the extra turn and dead Indian wickets means it is almost impossible for a team coming from the region to win consistently abroad.

Even when you do produce a few batsmen like say Gavaskar and Vishwanath, you do not produce the bowlers. So, the combination with Zaheer Khan leading was a rare phenomenon.

It was a great team with leaders like Ganguly and Kumble and Dhoni, batsmen like Tendulkar, Dravid, Sehwag and Laxman, and bowlers like Kumble, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh.

The likes of you, we will never see again.

Good bye.

Written on the eve of the Adelaide test. In the most beautiful ground in the world, these greats will come to perform for one more hurrah.

“That’s The Way He Plays”

Tuesday, January 10th, 2012

The batsman slashes one. He misses it by a mile. Next, you hear the commentator say ‘that’s the way he plays.’ I don’t agree with this at all. The logic is that as it is his natural game, he will work best when he plays in that style.

However, when a driver drives in a jammed road, he is expected to be a bit more cautious not to cause an accident. You don’t tell the driver that you drive well when you drive at 80 KM/per hour. Why don’t you do that ALL the time. So why do we have different standards for a Sehwag or a Dilshan?

Let us not forget that these are professional cricketers. I am not asking a Sehwag to bat like a Chanderpaul. However, you can go down a gear or two. It is not too much to expect.

Don’t Open With Keepers, Agh

Monday, December 5th, 2011

There are a lot of things I do not understand about Indian cricket but one which has left me absolutely bewildered over the years is the fascination to open the batting with keepers. I can understand it in tests to an extent when India went through a phase of the Devang Gandhis and Vikram Rothores. You needed some one to withstand the new ball. Today, when India has Sehwag, Gambir and Abhinav Mukund, it makes no sense.

In ODIs, it is all the more flummoxing as you do not need a specialist as much as you need in tests. The move is most annoying for me because it screams out to all the aspiring Indian opening batsmen, the Tanmay Srivastavas of the world that they inspire absolutely no faith. An Ajinkya Rahane can gain valuable experience facing Roach and Rampaul. One can see how good is as a viable alternative in ODIs if Sehwag or Gambhir is injured. Instead, Parthiv Patel, who despite making runs domestically, is not a specialist opening batsman alternative for India in ODIs (as he isn’t aggressive enough or consistent enough), opens.

When a specialist batsman like Kanitkar bats at 8 and Karim opens, you know it is April fools day. Let’s not have the sight of Wriddhiman Saha or Parthiv Patel open in Australia against Siddle, Cummings, Pattinson and Johnson, please.

3 Ways to Save Test Cricket

Monday, November 28th, 2011

Sachin Tendulkar, the biggest Indian sports person of the past 20 years, if not ever, is playing, what is probably his last test in Eden Gardens. The stadium is sparsely filled, some thing unimaginable till a few years back. The attendances in the whole test were in line with the prediction of Harsha Bhogle – a disappointment. If ever cricket needed a wake up call to get it’s priorities right, it is now.

I offer three solutions to save the soul of cricket –

1. Day Night Tests – Shane Warne, the genius that he is, said around 15 years ago that his dream was to play day night tests. This is the need of the hour and an essential step cricket has to take. There are no ifs and buts about it. If a game starts at 5 PM and ends at mid night, even a man who has worked in the office who day can attend the last two sessions if not more.

There is the issue of due which will be a factor in some grounds but for me it is just one more aspect which will make test cricket even more interesting. Test cricket, at it’s core, like life, is batting the inner demons (the technique of the player) coupled with the external – the bowler and nature. When there is cloud cover, the ball swings more, when the pitch is old on day 5, it is tougher to bat. Let us see how the champion teams face up to the challenges of due, when they do arise in certain venues. It will not be a constant threat and will crop up at certain places and certain times of the year when due happens. Rather than shy away because of this and not hold test cricket at all, let us have the games, see what controversies they generate and get on with it. I am not disappointed at the trial done in the first class level with day night games and given one day cricket has been held in the night for two decades, it is time to shut out the apprehension and go for it.

2. More money for tests – An international cricketer or any sports person has a very small life on an average except the exceptions like a Tendulkar. So if they can earn more money from other forms of the game, they cannot be blamed if they give other forms more priority. Till a few years ago, Australia gave most money to players for playing tests even despite the huge popularity of one dayers. The balance is now completely gone though given a player can earn huge money in various T20 leagues around the world. If test cricket has to be given the most importance, test (I would say even first class cricket but I know that is never going to happen) cricket has to be subsidized.

3. T20 Window – There is a T20 domestic league going on in Zimbabwe right now, complete with the 4 international player rules of the IPL, which is getting good crowds, as most T20 around the world, whether it is England, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Australia or India or Azerbaijan gets. That is a positive, not a negative, for two main reasons, among many others –

a) It introduces cricket to new people who would never go to watch cricket under earlier circumstances.

b) It means cricketers and cricket as a whole gets more money which makes the game more sustainable.

Any one who argues money is bad is missing the plot. A window would stop a T20 league happening every month in some corner of the world. Have two windows, six months apart, a total of 60 or at most 90 days and let the players hit all the sixes they want and spread cricket far and wide. Football is played in far more leagues around the world. However, you do not see a player like Malinga or Pollard playing for 5 different teams and as a result ignoring their country completely.

Do we really want the next generation of cricket fans to think test cricket is an ancient relic it is now becoming? It isn’t fair on the public to expect them to leave work and go for their past times either. 10 years ago, it could have happened as cricket wasn’t played all around the year and a cricket game was a chance to see the Gods. In today’s world when a fan would any way see all the cricketers during the IPL, they can afford the miss the test.

N.B. – I did go for 2 sessions in Eden Gardens during the 2nd India – West Indies test held between 14th to 17th November. I would I have liked to go all days though.

N.B. 2 – My passion for the game has not declined. If at all, it has increased in recent times.

Also read –

Sambit Bal on watching Sachin bat in an empty stadium from 3 years ago, Arnab’s memories of Eden, Watching my first Game at Eden, 1991.

Why Champions League T20 Isn’t Clicking

Friday, September 30th, 2011

Empty stands

The Champions League T20 cricket tournament is in it’s third year. The best T20 sides from various nations gives you the chance to see some fine young talent in the quickest way possible. This is the main reason I have developed a liking for the tourney.

This year though, it has failed to capture the attention of the people. Some reasons where I am concerned –

Too many teams – 12 teams played in the 1st edition, 10 in the 2nd and 13 in the latest edition. With so many teams, it isn’t feasible to follow most properly. I understand one needs to be inclusive and have more teams. For that, there needs to be qualifiers like Champions League Football in home nations and not as a part of the tournament. There shouldn’t be more than 8 teams where here there were 13.

Long tournament – 3 weeks for such a tournament is stretching it. Just by having a longer tournament, which a tournament would love to show to showcase it’s muscle more than any thing given the packed international schedule today, you do not actually serve much purpose. Having a successful tournament would hold more ground in the long run.

Stars missing, unprepared – Tendulkar missing a tournament affecting how much people watch it in India is a given. Stars playing without adequate training is worse. KKR kept fumbling the ball no matter which player the ball went to which shows no one has been doing training. This is why Somerset, which had actually been playing cricket did well initially.

Empty stadiums – 4 Indian teams are playing. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out having the home team games in their cities would see much bigger crowds and create more buzz. Most revenue for tournaments like this are through TV rights and viewership but my point is viewership suffers when people see it is being played in empty stadiums. It isn’t a spectacle played in a packed house and a sense of occasion is missed.

Last, but not the least, Include Pakistani teams. Sialkot was arguably the strongest T20 side in the world and they never played in the Champions League and it is poorer for that. Even from a marketing viewpoint, having a Pakistani team would create controversy which would be good.

T20 Cricket Causing Poor Cricket Habits

Wednesday, September 7th, 2011

I looked forward to the Friends Provident Life T20 Final with bated breath. The annual finals day is always a big event in the English cricket calendar and sees a packed house in attendance. Mailnga charging away on Finals Day a few years back capturing the imagination of the crowd is some thing I will always remember, more so as it was a domestic cricket game.

The cricket left me dejected and in a state sad pondering. Murali Kartik opened the bowling in the final and the ball wss gripping and turning square. You would think the batsmen would look to apply themselves but what ensued was a terrible exhibition for cricket.

The batsmen kept trying to whack it and kept missing by a fair distance. When they did connect, they didn’t connect well (the probability of connecting well given the nature of the pitch was pretty low). This lead to the ridiculous statistic of the same bowler and fielder causing the dismissal of no less than four batsmen. If you weren’t watching closely enough, you would be forgiven to think that you were watching a replay of the replay, as Nasser Hussain remarked.

Now let us analyze this for a moment. The batting team probably targeted 160 if not more which would be great given a final. They ended up short at 145.

The team batting second did not learn and kept going for the same kind of shots. If they had played sensible cricket, they would have got there more times than not given a run rate of around 7.5 is not that difficult in T20 cricket.

Wisden has an interesting stat this year which shows fours and sixes win you more T20 games than 1’s and 2’s. That can explain why players want to hit through to an extent but when the situation demands, you expect first class professionals to adopt.

The problem is, in most scenarios in T20 cricket, the hit across the line works just fine. Why would you then change your approach. Given that cricketers keep playing T20 cricket, it is only natural that it will lead to bad habits in the game. Why would they care though given that T20 cricket is what pays the wages of most clubs and helps clubs financially (substantially) as it did for Leicestershire when they won the English domestic T20 competition this year.

I would like first class cricket to be subsidized for this ever expanding menace of an issue to be curbed at what is still an initial stage. You can’t blame the cricketers, who have a very small life as sports men to want to earn as much money as they can (honorably of course). Herein lies the problem of even why India ended up making the most anticipated test series in years a damp squib. Some thing needs to be done, and urgently.

Match scorecard, report.

Thank Heavens for Sport

Sunday, April 3rd, 2011

A teacher cynically remarked during class once that you guys (the students) only feel patriotic when supporting India in cricket. I laugh at the cynical remark now as I see Indians run on the road and feel delirious, proud and joyful. I am glad that in the climate of scams and corruption, we at least have cricket to unite such a large number of the humans.

Ahead of the Final

Saturday, April 2nd, 2011

I hope India wins of course. Not very sure it will happen though. There has been very little time between the semi final v Pakistan and the final. It is not the lack of practise which is the issue for me. The emotional and psychological drain is. The semi final would have been taxing emotionally for even the most experienced players. I saw Dhoni, who has generally been coolness personified even during and after games like the IPL final being so excited when India was on the brink of winning. The day after the game, when I woke up, it felt like you would after a night of heavy drinking. And that’s just me. The players would have been much more drained.

As Dhoni said after the game in a press conference, and I believe too, and has been seen countless times, the determining factor in world cups is about peaking. You wonder whether India has already peaked. It is all right to think you will be geared up but some times you want to and yet it does not happen after a game like the India-Pakistan game. I remember the great Australian team not being good at winning dead rubbers against lowly England. It was not because they wouldn’t want to win of course. It is difficult to be charged up after the emotiona drain of winning the Ashes. This is concerning for me.

To sort out this problem, playing some new face is important. It is great Nehra is injured and we get the opportunity to play either Ashwin or Sreesanth for him. Nehra was unlikely to fire any way without support for his swing and so that’s another reason I am glad he is out. I was a huge fan of Nehra and he had an unfulfilled career after injuries plagued him and though he bowled exceptionally well in the last game, I am not sure how long he will last. India might want to take him to the tough English tour for his swing and experience maximum.

Coming back to the final, the only aspect of comfort is the Sri Lankan lower middle order with Samaraweera and Chamara Silva is very weak and Sri Lanka may just not be strong enough for an Indian team which has got it’s balance right with Yuvraj bowling. The Sri Lankan ‘3′ for mine is exceptionally strong though and that is leaving Jayawardene. Tharanga wasn’t rated highly not that long ago but he has matured and developed really well. He knows his game now and 11 ODI centuries after 120 games is a fair effort by any standard. Dilshan is a tough cookie as well and we know Sangakarra is world class. I would be tempted to play Perera v India as he is a fine promising pace man who might trouble the Indians more than say Mendis. The only aspect to consider is whether the lack of much experience might be a problem.

India has been a poor finisher though that problem seems resolved now with Raina back. Sri Lanka on the other hand is exceptional while bowling in the death. In a recent world cup match, Sri Lanka bowled yorker in 40 percent of their deliveries in the death (Simon Hughes tweeted about it with a graphical illustration from ESPN). The death overs might me the key aspect if the Indian batting doesn’t run away with the game by scoring 300 plus.

These two sides have played each other a hell of a lot of times over the recent past and would know the strengths and weaknesses of each other on the back of their hand. This is a game which might be decided on strategy as much as it would on nerves of playing the world cup final. If India wins, and it is still a big if despite the huge optimism of the Indian fans, India will become arguably the best team in ODIs as well (they are already the best in tests). I would derive a huge amount of pleasure from it apart from the huge euphoria which would overwhelm on winning the world cup. It would be symbolic of the fact that India has become a cricket super power in more ways than one. Maybe it is just me but I can’t think of that many symbolisms if Sri Lanka wins. Right from 1975, the world cup winning team has been symbolic of some aspects. The most disappointing might be the false dawn after Pakistan won in 1992. It did show what it could achieve if it played to potential though.

Maybe a symbolism isn’t needed or it would emerge later like it did with the Australians of 1987. Who cares, winning the Cricket World Cup is big enough in itself. Win it India!

Thoughts Before The India-Pakistan Game

Wednesday, March 30th, 2011

I haven’t had a big match feel like this since the India-Pakistan World Cup 1996 Quarter Final. India and Pakistan had not met each other for a while before that game and the tension before the game was unreal. They had a nice montage with a players taking part in the game talking about the game before it started in the then Prime Sports. It is a time and tested format and I have seen it in many American broadcasts, it was perfect, a sharp contrast to the millions of bytes on the television we see today in the trillions of news channels.

Coming to the game, I did see Pakistan closely in their game versus Australia and they played like a team. They were motivated, united (despite Akhtar being dropped in the last couple of games) and had a jazba about them which tells you this team is dangerous and means business. Afridi captained really well, opening the bowling with the miserly Abdur Rehman, who was turning the ball far more than characteristic from him (which also showed Afridi had read the wicket amazingly well among other things). Pakistan dropped Rehman after that which shows their strength and conviction. The most important aspect was Pakistan was not bowling wayward in the game at all. Not many poor deliveries bowled, some thing so uncharacteristic of the Pakistani team.

Given all of this, I do think Pakistan has a better chance. They may not be the better team on paper but are the far more prepared team, by the looks of it. Imran Khan had the motivation of building the hospital. This Pakistan team seems motivated to do it’s part to revive Pakistani cricket after the visit to the dark ages in the last couple of years.

Reports are saying this will be a batting track but I don’t think any one can say it won’t have the traditional Mohali bounce. The bounce has usually favored Pakistan (they have never lost an ODI in the ground versus India) but with Indian batsmen more adept at facing quicker bowlers now, the edge here might lay with India. Pakistan SHOULD play Shoaib Akhtar to balance this, more so as Wahab Riaz might not be experienced enough for a big game like today.

Usually, I have a good idea which team might be stronger but this is placed so beautifuly, you have no idea which way it is going to go. I am nervous and think Pakistan has the slight edge (India is NOT the favorites despite what Afridi or the bookies might tell you). In the end it might all come down to Tendulkar. However, given how in a tight game, it needs more than just an individual performance to win a game, it may, as it should, depend on which team pulls more weight and has more resources to keep punching back at you.

After a big climax, it can turn out to be a damp squib too like the Pakistan-Australia 1999 final. Let’s hope it is a game which tests the nerves though. A few champagne moments like the Rashid Latif catch, Jadeja flourish, Sohail-Prasad encounter would be great to remember another memorable India-Pakistan encounter with.

Bring in Raina for Gambhir

Saturday, March 12th, 2011

The incredible India collapse has baffled a lot of Indian fans. The people are questioning the use of the third power play but there is another big problem which needs to be addressed –

Finishing strongly while batting.

Here’s how India has batted in the last few overs of each match –

v Bangladesh – 39/2 in last 5 overs
v England – 46/7 in last 5 overs
v South Africa – 10/5 in last 5 overs

They need a strong finisher in the end and for that they need to bring in Raina. That’s a must where I am concerned. He is one of the best finishers in the game. Gambhir is a fine batsman actually even though he hasn’t had a great world cup so far but he doesn’t fit in the scheme of things at the moment. He has seemed undroppable after he went for 11 crores in the IPL and scored runs against New Zealand, which I don’t agree with. I have believed Raina should come in for Gambhir even before the World Cup started but now it is more clear than ever before.

What it will also do is have Yuvraj bat higher up the order. He is one of the finest batsmen in ODI cricket when in form, like at the moment, and India needs him to face more overs. He will ensure India don’t slack and has a good run rate in the middle overs as well.

(stats via help of my friend pappubahry)